Filled
by YugamiYoshitsune
Summary: Written for the following PWKM prompt: "[Cykesquill] Both of them stuffed and just snuggling. Maybe Athena notices that the color's starting to return to Simon's face? Or even her just laying against his stomach and falling asleep. I don't even know. I just want Cykesquill stuffing." Just a quick, fluffy one-shot.


How had they even made it back to Simon's place? Athena honestly didn't know – she only vaguely recalled painful waddling, every step getting them closer to being able to finally lie down, relax, and let their digestive tracts do their work.

Usually when they went out to eat together, which was quite often after they had gotten together a mere few weeks after his exoneration, the walk home was more than welcome: the feeling of being nicely filled by delicious food had a chance to truly set in, and the balmy breeze on her face while holding on to Simon's hand, looking forward to being inside and slowly undressing each other soon thereafter, made it all seem perfect.

However, when it was all-you-can-eat happy hour at the nearby sushi restaurant, Simon's favorite, they usually ended up like this: So stuffed Athena had stated more than once that she honestly could just lie down on the restaurant floor and go to sleep right there, only for _him_ to emphasize that he was categorically against _that_ particular idea, no matter how tempting it sounded.

They could never seem to help themselves at the sight of the buffet – the _maki_ rolls and _nigiri_ pieces were all so incredibly fresh and appetizing. Considering that especially Simon had subsisted on something that he had only defined as "brownish-gray slop tasting vaguely of gravy" for much of his time in prison, being able to indulge in such delicacies usually led to him loading up his plate multiple times, and in turn encouraging Athena to try most of what he was eating with his obvious enjoyment of each morsel. She was convinced that, if he didn't always insist on both of them using chopsticks, which at least marginally slowed things down, they would have long since managed to completely overdo it and explode after one of these _tours de force_.

It wasn't all bad, really – the walk back wasn't fun, and they were usually way too full to go at it on nights such as this one, but in exchange, the relief of lying down on his comfortable king-size bed next to each other once they had finally made it back and just _breathing_ , waiting for their bodies to break down the ungodly amount of food they had shoveled into their mouths (Athena much less skillfully than Simon, as the Asian eating implements still made her feel as though her fingers consisted only of knuckles) was its own sort of reward.

She turned towards him, lifting her arm lazily and draping it over his waist. Even with all of his clothing in place, she could feel that his belly was just a little bit softer than when he had been fresh out of prison. It wasn't really _pudge_ , just a thin layer of velvety squish softening the hard, lean lines of his abdomen, which had developed over years of bad food and strength training in lieu of anything else to do. Simon still worked out, and she doubted that he'd ever be completely out of shape regardless of his eating habits, considering how much attention he heaped on his beloved sword, but that hint of softness made him seem so much more _human_ to her.

 _So much more like you were_.

Athena snuggled closer and leaned up to kiss his cheek. Then, she lowered her head until the tip of her nose touched the side of his neck, inhaling his scent. A quick glance had been enough to verify all the recent changes he had undergone for what seemed like the hundredth time, all of them so _good_ to see. His face truly resembled that of his younger self in both shape and color once more: his eyes were not as sunken in as they had been, and the ravages of his insomnia had almost vanished. Simon had never _not_ been pale, but at least his skin had lost the sickly pallor caused by almost never having been allowed outside for so long. The sharp lines of his features had softened ever so slightly, too, to where he seemed to have almost lost some of the years which had weighed him down, in spite of the large section of his hair that had decided to turn silvery even though he was only 29. His thin lips, so expressive in both amusement and disdain, were not downturned at their corners anymore when he was resting, telling her more than anything that all the tension and stress and concern and outright _terror_ he had endured at the end of last year were finally draining out of him.

No one could have possibly known his emotional turmoil back then like she had, considering his stoic front. At first, he had managed to hide it away fairly well because court had never been about _him_ and he had known how to circumvent her ability to a degree, but as they had clashed over cases again and again, Athena had caught on to every bit he had not been able to conceal, particularly in trials which _had_ touched on people and places from their past. Junie. The space center. UR-1… When she had learned of his impending execution date, she had become so worried for him that she had in turn set off Apollo's ability. It had all been so horrible, and he had come so close to dying… but it was over. Done with. Everything was resolved, they were both alive, and they had evenings like this one, where their biggest concern was not being able to move for a while because they had eaten so much.

Athena's thoughts were interrupted by Simon groaning slightly.

"Cease pushing on my stomach at once, or else…"

He did not manage to finish his sentence, as he interrupted his own warning with a sudden, thunderous belch.

She lifted her head to look at his face and started to giggle. "Gesundheit. I guess I should be happy that you didn't start barfing, instead."

Simon snorted. "Pure self-control, I assure you. Apologies – perhaps I should express my compliments to the chef in a more timely manner next time."

"I bet they'll be properly impressed by the scariest prosecutor in the entire district coming up to them and horking on them." Now, Athena could not keep her laughter contained anymore, the mental image far too funny to banish from her mind just like that.

He shook his head at her, although he was grinning broadly as he did so. "You overestimate my ability to projectile-vomit – and I am not entirely certain that _that_ would be seen as a compliment."

"Yeah, me neither." Her laughing fit was starting to hurt her still painfully stretched belly a bit, so Athena chose to let it trail off, moving her arm up to where it was now stretched across his chest, instead. "Better not risk you practicing, though…"

"Much obliged." Simon's fingers lazily combed through her long pony tail; the now slightly slurry quality of his speech, which was usually so sharp and precise in the pronunciation of every consonant, told her that he was not too far away from nodding off for a while.

Athena herself didn't feel sleepy just yet, so she scooted down a bit to let the side of her head settle against his shoulder and listen as his breathing gradually evened out, his heartbeat strong and regular, every little sound he made signaling his contentment to her sensitive hearing.

Maybe their occasional bouts of overeating caused both of them to not be in the mood for making love afterwards, but truth be told, she probably wouldn't want to trade these evenings in, anyway. Yeah, sex was great, but it wasn't as though a night without here and there was a big deal, and considering what they got out of it, instead…

 _Nobody would believe me if I told them how cute you are like this._

 _How peaceful._

 _How much like you were._

 _Just for me._

For now, so shortly after everything they had endured, quiet evenings filled with good food and laughter amounted to reclaiming their past, as well as to knowing that, now that the seven years of darkness over, there would be many tomorrows to look forward to in each other's company.

After an indeterminable span of time watching him, listening to him, and basking in his solid, warm presence, the hypnotic regularity of his chest rising and falling with each breath in and out gradually managed to lull her into a doze. Soon, Athena was curled up against his side, succumbing to her own digestion nap, and even though she had dropped off completely a few minutes later, her soft smile remained on her face.


End file.
